Yeah, I don't get it with Mitt... Usually people are looking ahead at the networking contacts, the power they acquire, the respect, etc... Mitt is at the point where he doesn't even have to keep putting his money in these stupid blind trusts. He doesn't need any more contacts, he doesn't need any more power.

Why go to all of this trouble? Is it maybe a hobby for him? I can't see anything else, since even his so called friends will do all right when Obama wins a second term. I just don't understand why someone THAT set for life needs to even worry about a job, let alone one that is this much of a pain in the ass to get hired for.

Obama's pretty well off himself, but he's not the kind of insane rich that Romney is, so the contacts, power, respect and money will actually more than just a drop in the ocean for him.

NOw, when my daughter is elected to be the first female President in 32 years, it will be out of a deep sense of duty for her Country, of course, but I haven't bought THAT excuse for a President for quite awhile... Of course, SHE will be different. ;-)

After President of the United States, whether you've been loved or vilified in office, there's no place to go but down. Even Nixon. His name is on the f*cking MOON. How does anything get any better than that?

Mikey1969:Yeah, I don't get it with Mitt... Usually people are looking ahead at the networking contacts, the power they acquire, the respect, etc... Mitt is at the point where he doesn't even have to keep putting his money in these stupid blind trusts. He doesn't need any more contacts, he doesn't need any more power.

Why go to all of this trouble? Is it maybe a hobby for him? I can't see anything else, since even his so called friends will do all right when Obama wins a second term. I just don't understand why someone THAT set for life needs to even worry about a job, let alone one that is this much of a pain in the ass to get hired for.

Obama's pretty well off himself, but he's not the kind of insane rich that Romney is, so the contacts, power, respect and money will actually more than just a drop in the ocean for him.

NOw, when my daughter is elected to be the first female President in 32 years, it will be out of a deep sense of duty for her Country, of course, but I haven't bought THAT excuse for a President for quite awhile... Of course, SHE will be different. ;-)

Well, I'll be dead in thirty-two years. But if by some chance medical technology keeps me alive. She already has my vote. Seriously though, you have to have a big ego to want that job.

riverwalk barfly:Well, I'll be dead in thirty-two years. But if by some chance medical technology keeps me alive. She already has my vote. Seriously though, you have to have a big ego to want that job.

I can see the concept of someone wanting it because they want to change the world for the better, I just can't think of someone who has run since I was born who I would actually believe if they told me that.

I've come to the conclusion that the people who would make the best leaders have no interest in it whatsoever, and the ones who have no business even being shift leader at the local Burger King are the ones who actually pursue positions of leadership. It's bass-ackwards and horribly depressing when you think about it for too long.

first, $2 billion in 2012 is equal to what, $200K when money was worth something?

second, it's all b.s.. one of the world's biggest dog & pony shows. we the great unwashed don't really get to pick The Homecoming Queen. and when you look at the man behind the curtain it's all just a variation on pro wrestling any way. put on a good show, later that night your opponent and his wife are over at your place for a nice BBQ and a bottle of wine.

We wonder why representative democracy doesn't work, as we pit two millionaires (who we demand be sin free, or at least we demand the opponent be sin-free) in a multi-billion dollar battle to jetset around the states and run insane tv commercials, all to prove just how like us they really are.

If you want to know why government doesn't work... that's why... only rich lawyers can even afford to run for most of the lower offices, occasionally a nice farmer like Jon Tester makes it through, but he'll get drummed out in favor of another rich guy who is a little more of a team player in moneyball. We hire, almost exclusively, lawyers... bad ones at that, and then we wonder why these idiots don't believe in evolution, why they don't believe in tectonic plates, why they don't believe in math. Where are the transportation economists, where are the scientists, where are the engineers, where is anyone who has actually practiced medicine in the last 20 years as a career (I like that Ron Paul is a doctor, but he's not exactly current), where are the farmers, where are the IT guys? Lawyers are great for writing laws, and I'm not saying we don't need *some* of them in Congress... but when we elect nothing but lawyers, how can we rightly be surprised that they don't know about any subject other than writing laws? This idiocy gives more sway to PACs and lobbyists, and takes away from the constituents... the system fails us because we make it fail us day in and day out.

firefly212:We wonder why representative democracy doesn't work, as we pit two millionaires (who we demand be sin free, or at least we demand the opponent be sin-free) in a multi-billion dollar battle to jetset around the states and run insane tv commercials, all to prove just how like us they really are.

If you want to know why government doesn't work... that's why... only rich lawyers can even afford to run for most of the lower offices, occasionally a nice farmer like Jon Tester makes it through, but he'll get drummed out in favor of another rich guy who is a little more of a team player in moneyball. We hire, almost exclusively, lawyers... bad ones at that, and then we wonder why these idiots don't believe in evolution, why they don't believe in tectonic plates, why they don't believe in math. Where are the transportation economists, where are the scientists, where are the engineers, where is anyone who has actually practiced medicine in the last 20 years as a career (I like that Ron Paul is a doctor, but he's not exactly current), where are the farmers, where are the IT guys? Lawyers are great for writing laws, and I'm not saying we don't need *some* of them in Congress... but when we elect nothing but lawyers, how can we rightly be surprised that they don't know about any subject other than writing laws? This idiocy gives more sway to PACs and lobbyists, and takes away from the constituents... the system fails us because we make it fail us day in and day out.

Wow. This makes sense. I mean really, I'm an accountant that spent his entire career writing budgets for Medical schools. I don't want Doctors preparing budgets. I don't want accountants writing my prescriptions. And to your point, why do we have lawyers deciding policy on Climate change, education, wars, etc.

Mikey1969:Yeah, I don't get it with Mitt... Usually people are looking ahead at the networking contacts, the power they acquire, the respect, etc... Mitt is at the point where he doesn't even have to keep putting his money in these stupid blind trusts. He doesn't need any more contacts, he doesn't need any more power.

Why go to all of this trouble? Is it maybe a hobby for him? I can't see anything else, since even his so called friends will do all right when Obama wins a second term. I just don't understand why someone THAT set for life needs to even worry about a job, let alone one that is this much of a pain in the ass to get hired for.

Obama's pretty well off himself, but he's not the kind of insane rich that Romney is, so the contacts, power, respect and money will actually more than just a drop in the ocean for him.

NOw, when my daughter is elected to be the first female President in 32 years, it will be out of a deep sense of duty for her Country, of course, but I haven't bought THAT excuse for a President for quite awhile... Of course, SHE will be different. ;-)

Well, there is being able to do something his father couldn't do. Plus, we were worried about the Kennedy family, or the Bush family. LOOK AT ALL THOSE ROMNEYS!!!!!!

1) When it's not your money, you don't really care how much you spend.

2) Fundraising has become a goal in and of itself. The Democrat and Republican compete for the most money not because more money buys a better campaign (it doesn't)...but, because the more money you raise, the better press you get (and, ironically, that sort of press is gotten for free -- or, close to it).

thurstonxhowell:eraser8: the more money you raise, the better press you get (and, ironically, that sort of press is gotten for free -- or, close to it).

The relationship between good press and ad buys doesn't sound free to me.

You've missed the point entirely.

It's not the ad buys that get the good press. What dazzles the Fourth Estate -- at least in the United States -- is the number of dollars that come into the campaign. As I wrote earlier, fundraising has become a goal in and of itself: the more money you raise, the better press you get -- REGARDLESS of ad buys.

limeyfellow:NewportBarGuy: doglover: How much would you pay straight up to be in charge of the US military for four years? $2 billion is a bargain. And that's just one perk.

Yeah, but I just deal with my neighbor's screaming cat by feeding it a can of tuna and it shuts up. Do I really need to nuke their house?

It clear you are not one of the GOP faithful. There are always use for nukes.and loud cats are one of them.

And those screaming cats are probably having out-of-wedlock, underage cat sex. If you were really a GOP faithful, you'd sic the legal hounds on them to legislate that sin away and remove their safety net. Why should taxpayers support an unemployed mother who 6-8 children by 10-11 different fathers? It's an outrage!

firefly212:We wonder why representative democracy doesn't work, as we pit two millionaires (who we demand be sin free, or at least we demand the opponent be sin-free) in a multi-billion dollar battle to jetset around the states and run insane tv commercials, all to prove just how like us they really are.

If you want to know why government doesn't work... that's why... only rich lawyers can even afford to run for most of the lower offices, occasionally a nice farmer like Jon Tester makes it through, but he'll get drummed out in favor of another rich guy who is a little more of a team player in moneyball. We hire, almost exclusively, lawyers... bad ones at that, and then we wonder why these idiots don't believe in evolution, why they don't believe in tectonic plates, why they don't believe in math. Where are the transportation economists, where are the scientists, where are the engineers, where is anyone who has actually practiced medicine in the last 20 years as a career (I like that Ron Paul is a doctor, but he's not exactly current), where are the farmers, where are the IT guys? Lawyers are great for writing laws, and I'm not saying we don't need *some* of them in Congress... but when we elect nothing but lawyers, how can we rightly be surprised that they don't know about any subject other than writing laws? This idiocy gives more sway to PACs and lobbyists, and takes away from the constituents... the system fails us because we make it fail us day in and day out.

There's more to it. Lawyers are trained not to try to discover the "truth" but to discover arguments that make "their truth" sound good. Its all about making and winning the argument. When you look at the dysfunction of Washington with the understanding of how they have been trained to think our current situation shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. Most of them are not interested in finding and doing what's best for the country, most are interested in finding new ways to make arguments that their ideology is best for the country, whether that is true or not.